United to serve the community - Good stories of civil servants (English Version)

CHAN Yiu-fai, the Hongkong Post’s Superintendent of Posts, considers that it is not necessary for Postal Officers to be smarter than others, but they must have a greater sense of responsibility. CHAN Yiu-fai has experienced the challenges during the epidemic and elections. As the management, he had to maintain the public service while ensuring the health and safety of colleagues. During the epidemic, he would always stay until the last moment, and would close the door and leave only after making sure that all colleagues had returned safely.

CHAN Yiu-fai considers that both individuals and departments have to keep abreast of the times. He likes to learn from young colleagues so as to better understand social changes and discharge his duties more effectively. In recent years, the department has actively used technologies to launch services and enhance efficiency. However, he considers that human capital of the Hongkong Post is the most important resource after all. As a member of the civil service, it is the responsibility of CHAN Yiu-fai to serve the public with professionalism, positive attitude and dedication. What satisfies him the most is seeing that his...

LEE Sui-ping (Yolanda), Senior Clerical Officer of the Transport Department, considers that colleagues of the Clerical Grades are important gears closely linked to the internal operation of the Hong Kong Government, and an efficient Government can only be maintained with the precise and effective operation of these gears. She thinks every colleague of the Clerical Grades should have no fear for power, adhere to principles and work seriously in a fair, reasonable and lawful spirit.

In Yolanda’s views, apart from treating members of the public as clients with passion, we should also treat our colleagues sincerely and help each other, so as to develop the team spirit and serve the public together. She considers her work to be diverse and interesting, and likes to be posted to different departmen...

Different engineers take turns to handle the public relations work at the Geotechnical Engineering Office. To CHUANG Tat-tang, Senior Geotechnical Engineer at the Civil Engineering and Development Department, this post has given him a deep understanding of the importance of public communication and made him realise the meaning of public education on building resilience against natural disasters. He sees himself as a bridge between the professionals and the public. While providing explanations to the public using his professional engineering knowledge, he has acquired effective public communication skills at work, so the public can have a deeper understanding of the problems in civil engineering-related incidents.

CHUANG Tat-tang has to work day and night at times in order to disseminate various kinds of information to the public and media efficiently and effectively. In spite of this, he thinks his job will be very meaningful if he can educate the public on how to effectively prevent or escape from disasters, even though disas...

HO Siu-hang (Jacky), Chief Immigration Assistant of the Immigration Department (IMMD), is specially responsible for visitors’ extension applications at the Extension Section of IMMD. The work enables him to contact various types of visitors, and have a more in-depth understanding of different situations. Facing various demands from visitors, he firmly believes that the most important thing is to be people-oriented and treat every visitor with empathy.

During the period from 1998 to 2008, Jacky was selected as a member of the IMMD’s Guard of Honour, and had been included in the first batch of members learning Chinese-style foot drill. He considers that in addition to representing the departmental image, the Guard of Honour can also strengthen members’ sense of belonging to the department. The positive attitude and spirit nurtured by the Guard of Honour help members to face various challenges proactively...

SZE Pui-sing, Senior Assistant Shipping Master at the Prosecution Unit of the Marine Department (MD), is responsible for MD’s prosecution and law enforcement work. He believes that the good operation of the harbour is closely related to the economy and development of Hong Kong. Having worked in different divisions of MD for over 30 years, SZE Pui-sing has gained understanding of each division’s operation and the relevant laws, which allows him to handle each case effectively.

SZE Pui-sing had worked at the Patrol Section for a long time and has built a strong emotional attachment to the harbour. He has also witnessed how Hong Kong has developed from a fishing village to a highly commercialised city. In his view, prosecution not only convicts offenders but also warns the potential of...

The Liaison Officers of District Offices are in fact staff facing the public in the forefront, responsible for handling the livelihood issues of utmost public concern in their daily lives. WAN Siu-ling (Emily), Principal Liaison Officer of the Home Affairs Department, is mainly responsible for the building management work, providing building management support services in particular. Old buildings in Hong Kong have many problems. Emily’s team endeavours to devise various methods aiming at assisting and uniting residents to improve and manage their living environment, as well as raising their awareness of the importance of building management.

On the other hand, Emily felt very fortunate that she could participate in the formation of Care Teams, assisting in formulating various guidelines to help different staff members understand their duties effectively. While knowing that the work of Liaison Officers is tedious, Emily firmly believes that as long as th...

In order to enhance the quality of public toilet service in Hong Kong, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) has organised the creative thinking workshops to collect public opinions. In a sharing session, a participant said, “It is hoped that I can walk into the toilet in a rush and come out clean.” This saying has been kept firmly in the mind of WONG Ming-chun, FEHD’s Senior Health Inspector, inspiring his thoughts on improving the public toilet service.

WONG Ming-chun works in the Cleansing Section of FEHD, and has to refurbish 240 public toilets in five years. Therefore, he likes to walk into different toilets in ordinary days to make reference to others’ design and management strengths, and apply them to the public toilet improvement works. The public toilets designed by WONG Ming-chun’s work team has integrated various advanced technologies while catering for human needs. These smart toilets not only meet people’s daily needs in a comfortable manner, but also thoroughly change the image of public toilets.

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KWOK Ka-hei, Senior Survey Officer of the Planning Department (PlanD), believes that a balance should be achieved between urban development and conservation. KWOK Ka-hei works at the Central Enforcement and Prosecution Section of PlanD and hopes to protect the precious land resources of Hong Kong. PlanD prohibits unauthorised land uses with law enforcement strategies. His work not only includes on-site inspections but also the use of drones to assist with prosecution. Although it is not easy to work in all kinds of weather, KWOK Ka-hei truly believes that he can help make Hong Kong a competitive, s...

CHAN Choi-yuk (Priscilla), Assistant Curator I of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, is passionate about movies, and thinks that cultural workers should have a sense of mission. As a conservationist of Hong Kong old movies, she has all along been committed to searching for the lost movies in Hong Kong with an unyielding spirit. The job not only allows her to realise the importance of faith, but also enriches her life experience through many special encounters.

Priscilla inherits the passion and knowledge from the curators of the previous generations, and has carefully planned for a wide variety of programmes. Besides, she also upholds the team spirit and hopes her team can face the challenges together, share the fruits of their work, and share their available information with the public. Apart from allowing the Hong Kong people to understand our own movies, Priscilla also hopes her work can facilitate the promo...

As an instructor at the Fire and Ambulance Services Academy, CHEW Ming-tak, Principal Ambulanceman of the Fire Services Department, believes that it is most meaningful to pass his experience and knowledge accumulated over the years to the next generation, in order to multiply the number of lives saved. CHEW Ming-tak arrives at the Academy earlier than the students every day to tidy up his uniform attentively and check the students’ homework. He holds himself to a higher standard than his students because he thinks this is the way to win their respect.

In addition to teaching first-aid knowledge, CHEW Ming-tak asks his students to write weekly journals so that he can have a deeper understanding of their true thoughts and individual needs. He hopes his students can follow his example to rescue lives in emergencies and save the needy with professionalism and de...